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Tiltaholics Anonymous

I am a Tilter. I thought I could give it up but I can’t. I’ve accepted it. Yesterday I threw away 5 buy-ins to a particularly nasty bout.

Tilting off 5 buy-ins every 10,000 hands (a conservative estimate) is a 2.5 PTBB/100 hands reduction in my win rate. My win rate at NL25 would look a hell of a lot healthier if I added 2.5 BBs (whose wouldn’t). This is only going to get worse if I try to move up and the win rates become slimmer.

So, I’ve decided it’s time to try to do something about it. I can’t stop tilting entirely but hopefully I can reduce its frequency and severity so that my bottom line is affected less and less. If I could go from 2.5 BB to 2 BB that would be progress. From 2.5BB to 0.5BB and I could move up right away.

There are tonnes of threads and articles on tilt on PS and elsewhere but I’m going to post my thoughts/plans below. Any suggestions or advice would be much appreciated.

This post has been edited 2 time(s), it was last edited by JonikoP: 05.11.2010 19:11.

Causes of Tilt:

My classic causes of tilt are the usual things – losing, bad beats and playing badly. There are loads more which are not directly related to the game - a stressful day in the office, computer problems, a hangover, tiredness etc, etc. They tend to compound as well – a stressful day in the office followed by getting sucked out on by a fish is a sure-fire tilt inducer or having the same guy three bet me for the fourth time in the first three orbits after my team just lost its football match. Guaranteed tilt.

I’m also an obsessive HEM checker (does anyone else do this?) win or lose a big pot and I check my session stats and graph. Whilst I don’t think this is a problem in itself it does means that I’m focusing more on results than I should and it exaggerates a bad beat and constantly reminds me that I’m stuck. This makes me angry/frustrated/depressed and I start playing badly.

Recognising Tilt:

Ok, so the purpose of listing some causes of tilt is to try to recognise when I’m tilting or, better yet, recognise when I’m about to tilt and stop it before it happens.

Lose a couple of buy-ins or starting to play after a long stressful day in the office I know I’m in the danger zone and I should be careful. Catch myself opening A3s UTG and I know I’m playing emotionally and not logically. Punch the table and throw the mouse across the room… you get the picture.

So, hopefully I can get better at identifying when I’m on tilt or vulnerable to tilt. I plan to check my thought process and make sure it’s logical whenever I get sucked out on, lose a big pot or find myself getting angry.

When I think I’m at risk of tilt I’m going to move down in limits. If I’m playing great I can move back up. I may give up some EV at times but I think overall this will be a plus EV move. One big losing session can affect confidence for a long time so booking a smaller winning session should be good for my mindset generally.

2. Quitting

The only solution to Grade 5 Mega Tilt. The most extreme solution but also the most effective. It can be tough to discipline yourself to stop playing and to help me do so I’m going to impose an objective 3 buy-in stop loss rule.

3. Taking a Break

A grade down from quitting but still a powerful solution. Stepping away from the table and tidying the flat or doing some press-ups before playing again. For me physical activity is better than watching TV or surfing the web.

4. Smiling

Next time you feel angry and frustrated try smiling. It’s weirdly impossible to stay frustrated and angry when you make yourself smile. I can’t feel happiness and anger at the same time. I’m going to try to do this whenever the red mist starts to descend.

5. Breathing

This one is a classic but it works for me. A few deep breaths letting the tension slip away with each exhalation clears the mind. When you stressed you tend to take faster shallower breaths (the adrenaline causing a flight or fight response) – deep breaths help to remind you that everything is fine.

6. Mindset

Tilt is all in my head. I know that for sure. If I don’t let myself get angry and frustrated I won’t be on tilt at all. If I can shrug after getting sucked out on for the third time in 5 minutes, smile and carry on playing logically then I’ll have conquered tilt.

I think the key to this is acceptance. There is tonnes of variance in poker. I will win and lose – it’s part of the game. I’ll lose 300 big blind pots when I get it all in pre-flop with AA. It’s going
to happen - guaranteed. I think recognising and accepting this is a huge step forward. I’m also going to try to stop focussing on the session results (so no checking HEM during my sessions).

I’m responsible for my tilt not the fish that just called down all three streets with bottom pair to my brilliant 3-barrel bluff. I need to take responsibility and realise I can choose not to tilt by not letting things get to me.

8. Stopping playing RUSH.

For some reason I seem to tilt more playing Rush poker so until I get that sorted I’m going to take a break from it.

Poker is a game about decisions, not money. In every hand you need to try and make the best decision that you can. If you continue to be results oriented you will never get better. STOP looking at your graph mid session for god's sake, if that's not distracting then I don't know what is.

If you are thinking about how much you have won/lost while playing then you are distracted. Distraction in poker=lose.

The way I tilt is in little bits that add up to huge chunks... If I lose half my stack to something unlucky I immediately steam to get it back. If I had a full buy in, there is no way I would do this because I'd lose too much money. The thing is, when you lose a chunk of your stack, in your mind you were prepared to lose that buy in anyway, so gambling is okay. Again, this is the mind of a tilter (ME!). Actually, it isn't the mind, it is the emotions taking over the mind. You feel like you lost the buy in anyway. In reality, you didn't, you only lost half. Over time, this leads to losing many buy ins. But if you are able to get away while you still have even a quarter of a stack, you SAVE many buy ins. That bad beat end up costing your entire stack because even though you lost a half stack, in your mind you lost it all, so you DO end up losing it all a few minutes later. I am sometimes able to push away with some of my stack left. I feel so good when I am able to do it but I have to admit it isn't as often as I'd like.

As I'm typing, I'm seeing a solution. Set auto top up for whtever BI you play at. If you lose a chunk of your stack to a bad beat you will keep from pissing the rest away because you will automatically see a full stack in front of you. And it is much more difficult to piss away a full stack than a half stack. I admit I never did this because I was afraid I'd tilt out stacks and stacks but I see that I wouldn't for the aforementioned reason. Also, playing with a shorter stack is higher variance. In many cases you will commit yourself before you really want to. This plus tilt = loss of money.

Regarding Rush - Rush is a breeding ground for tilt. Assuming you are making good decisions most of the time, when you make, say 25 or more % of your stack, quit and buy in again, that way, if you lose your stack you have lost approx 75%, not the full thing net.

EX... 2/5 Rush buy in for $4, your BR is $100, you make it to $5, cut out and buy in again for $4, BR is $101. You then lose $4 but your BR is $97. If you hadn't pocketed that dollar it would be $96.

I think I will try the top up. I will not try to Rush cut out just yet because having more chips at the table = more flexability.

Originally posted by hackbinder
The way I tilt is in little bits that add up to huge chunks... If I lose half my stack to something unlucky I immediately steam to get it back. If I had a full buy in, there is no way I would do this because I'd lose too much money..................................................................................

Read about this much then was going to suggest topping up.... tho i see you have made that decision yourself....

Try sitting out of the game for 2-5 mins after you get bad beat... the smallest of breaks at times can make all the difference...

When i take a bad beat i quite literally just laugh out loud... quoting "standard" to my invisible audience...

you just need a "shit happens" and "life's not fair" attitude...

Always remember... you were a monster favorite to win the hand and you can't do much better than that...

WP / UNLUCKY / STANDARD / WHATEVER / THANKS FOR TRYING OPP

If you really feel on super tilt but got the poker bug, read articles and watch videos here... post on forums etc...

Random follow-up question - I've started trying to focus on EV rather than cash when evaluating sessions.

Even though EV is far from the whole story, this seems like a better focus than cash outcome. Problem is that now when I'm +cash but -EV I'm not that pleased with the session. And even when -EV but +cash I can't help but be a bit annoyed!

I know your tilt..you are angry even if u got lucky and had a bad move, or if u had a good move but got unlucky...even if you didnt get the maximum value possible out of a hand, u get angry....u lose aa vs a shit u get mad...i know the feeling exactly...what works for me...swear out loud...no shit...as loud as u can..then i go smoke a cigarette, put some cold water on my face, and either sit back, or watch something really stupid, like an episode of family guy...it will take ur mind off poker, and in 25mins ur ready to play again...ofc sometimes 25min is not enough..like when i get flop str8 + royal draw vs 2pair and he hits on river it makes me sad..but after one year, i think i can handle it, its just one loud swearing, one cigarette and im done..but this was one year of poker, 1 out of 10 days i still tilt and loose like 1-2buyin that day.. (not being able to fold OP usually at tilt) but its getting rarer god bless..

btw u should try to get some small object that u can just throw to the wall as hard u can..something that is light and doesnt brake..its good for starters
my favourite is still my monitor (fucking old sun microsystem 24 inch monitor) or my keyboard
they both felt the badbeats